Greetings all...I’ve decided I “need” a double rifle to complete the heavy side of my gun collection. While I save up over the next year to purchase one, I have a few questions for those of you with experience with the .577 and .500 calibers. Originally, I settled on an 11 pound 500. About the same calculated recoil as a .470. However, same with many others it seems, the .577 has caught my interest.

I’ve already decided that Verney-Carron will be building my next rifle (the bone charcoal case colors and ability to build to my specs won me over), and if I order a .577, it will weigh around 14 lbs. That equates to about 20% more recoil than a 500. I understand this amount of recoil will be a lot to take on at first, but I’m willing to work at it. My experience with heavy rifles maxes out at a fully loaded 416 Remington, which was a lot for me at first but eventually through practice I got used to the rifle and could shoot it well, taking an excellent eland bull with it on my last trip to the RSA.

All this being said, anyone with experience please chime in. Should I leave this caliber to the professionals in Africa, or can this caliber be mastered with lots of practice?

Primary reasons for spending the extra money on the caliber is because I think it is historically “cool”, and I reload so ammo cost is less of a concern.

With either caliber, I plan on hunting Buff, elephant, and hippo.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!